Hinge assembly for focusing ground glass cover



P 1940- H. o. DROTNING ET AL ,196.759

HINGE ASSEIBLY FOR FOCUSING GROUND GLASS COVER Filed Feb. 2, 1939 Henry. 0. Draining John D.NeWell INVENTORS BY m 2 2 I flit/f ATToRNEa s Patented Apr. 9, 1940 HINGE ASSEMBLY FOR FOCUSING GROUND GLASS COVER Henry 0. Drotning and John D. Nowell, Rochester, N. Y., assignors to Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application February 2, 1939, Serial No. 254,260

6 Claims.

is to provide said hinge pins with collars which, in addition to limiting the extent to which the pins can be inserted into said bores, also when engaged by said resilient wings of the cover, serve It is broadly old to provide a focusing ground in combination with said wings to hold the pins 5 glass with a hinge cover for alternately covering in assembled position. And yet another object is the same when not in use, and uncovering the to make the width of said collars on said hinge same when it is desired to focus a camera; and pins equal to the draft of the taper of the side the present invention is not concerned with such walls in the ground glass support, whereby they a structure broadly, but is directed to a hinge also serve to space said wings from said side walls 10 connection for a ground glass cover which has to eliminate frictional engagement between said many advantages over the prior art. In known wings and the side walls when the wings are hinge connections of the type referred to, the moved to an overlapping position relative to the hinge pins have been fixed in the ground glass side walls. And another object is to provide support, as by screw threads, drive fits, etc., means for positively limiting the hinging move- 15 and the cover has been rotatably mounted therement of the cover in its uncovering position when on by having holes through which said pins would moved in that direction. And another, and one extend. It has been found, however, that where of the most important objects of the invention, the. ground glass support is so formed as to leave is to provide a hinge assembly for the purpose only a limited amount of stock into which the pointed out which is cheap both from the manu- 2o hinge pins are to be inserted, that a drive fit or facturing and assembling standpoints. screw-threaded attachment of the pins to the The novel features that we. consider character- DD e y Often ea s away the stock thus istic of our invention are set forth with particspoiling the entire p e Further, when a ground ularity in the appended claims. The invention 8 Support is molded, which is the h p itself, however, both as to its organization, to- 25 manner of product o tape n side walls on gether with additional objects and advantages the r und ass supp t result due o p tt thereof, will best be understood from the followak g techniquewhere ucshapedv cove! is ing description of a specific embodiment when ed to the gr glass Support and the Wings read in connection with the accompanying drawthereof overlap the side walls,-.means must be m in hjch:' 30 provided to eliminate frictional engagement be- Fig 1 is a rear perspective View of a camera tween the Wings and these taperfigd Walls in Order having an adapter back in place, which adapter to prevent wings from bemg sprung back includes a focusing ground glass and coverwardly away from normal position or to therefor which are connected by a hinge assembly prevent unnecessary frictional resistance to a according to the present invention 35 hinging movement of the cover. The present in- Fig 2 is a Section taken transversely of the venti on overcomes these noted difliculties, and adapter back and through the ground glass provldes hinge assembly which is cheap from port and showing the ground glass cover in a both a manufacturing and an assembling standpoint railgied gruncivermlg pos tion,f th d 1 m g. is a op p an view 0 e groun g as One object of the invention is to provide a hinge assembly between. a ground glass support igg gzgzffi gzg of the adapter back and and a ground glass cover in which the hinge pins are slidably inserted into hinge pin bores in the 4 sectlon taken Substantlauy on hne support, whereby limited amounts of stock will of 45 satisfactorily Support the hinge pins Another Fig. 1s a s1de elevat on of the ground glass supobject is to provide a hinge assembly of the type port with the cover raised, and with a part of the described wherein t ground glass cover is cover broken away to show the spring finger for mounted on the pins snapping the wings frictionally and retarding movement 01 thereof over the ends of said pins to permit the the Same, and, 50

v same to engage holes in said wings, whereby the Fig. 6 is an enlarged detailed elevation of one corner of the ground glass support minus the cover, and showing the limited amount of stock provided in which the bore for the hinge pin must be made.

Like reference characters refer to corresponding parts throughout the drawing.

Although the novel hinge assembly is shown and described herein as applied to a particular ground glass support, one for use with which it was particularly designed, it is to be understood that it could be used with any ground glass support having a hinge cover, regardless of the shape or character of said ground glass support.

Cameras of the film pack or plate type, e. g., Recomar Camera, are usually made to take comparatively large pictures, i. e., 2%, x 3%, or 3 X and the plates or film packs are removable from the camera back to be replaced by a focusing ground glass which can be slid into the place of the films for focusing purposes. In answer to a demand by the owners of cameras of this type to be able to use the miniature roll films, particularly color films, an adapter back has been provided which can be slipped onto the camera in place of the regular film pack or plate, and which adapter back provides for the use of these miniature films along with ground glass focusing. It in connection with such an adapter back that the present invention is disclosed merely because it was particularly designed for use on the same, and not because it is limited to use therewith.

Referring to Fig. 1 a plate or film pack camera is shown with a miniature roll film adapter back placed thereon, said adapter back including a focusing ground glass which is shown in its operative position with the cover thereof raised. A camera of this type may include a camera body it! along each longitudinal edge of the back wall of which is located runners H which ordinarily guide the film pack, plate, or ground glass into the focal plane of the camera lens when slid thereinto. The miniature film adapter back includes a mounting plate l2 which can be slid onto the camera back in engagement with the runners ll after the ground glass, film pack or plate has been removed from said back. This mounting plate 52 may be releasably held in position by the pivoted latch E3 on the camera body, which latch also serves to hold the film pack or the like in place on the camera back. On the mounting plate 5 2 are fixed a pair of spaced undercut guides 94 which slidably engage undercut flanges H: on the base member 96, see Fig. 2, to permit said base member to be slid longitudinally of said mounting plate I2.

This base member I6 includes an upstanding ground glass support and an upstanding camera support, indicated generally as H and I8 respectively, and which are spaced apart on the base member as shown in Fig. 5.. On the top of the ground glass support I! there is mounted a ground glass l9 for focusing purposes, and which ground glass is adapted to be covered or uncovered by a hinge cover member indicated generally as 20.

On the camera support I8 is mounted the camera body 2| of a miniature camera which serves merely as a roll film support and a film advancing means. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the miniature camera body 2| is minus the usual lens or bellows, the lens and bellows of a plate camera being used for exposing the film in the miniature camera body. When the base member I6 is slid in one direction on the mounting plate |2 the ground glass |9will be moved over an exposure aperture, not shown, in the mounting plate |2 which corresponds in size to the miniature film in the camera body 2|, for focusing and composing pictures. After focusing is completed the base member is slid in the other direction on the mounting plate |2 to bring the camera body 2| over the exposure aperture in the mounting plate whereupon an exposure can be made on the film therein. The film is advanced through the camera body 2| by a rotating winding knob 22 thereon, as is well known, and in mounting the camera body 2| and the ground glass IS on their respective supports l8 and I! it is assured that the two will be in the same plane. To insure the film or ground glass of the adapter back being accurately located in alignment with the exposure aperture of the mounting plate l2, and locked in said position without attention of the operator, a pair of perforated spring catches 23 and 23 are mounted on the guides |4 to extend over said mounting plate |2 and into the path of the base member |6. Each of these catches engages pins 24 or 24 extending upwardly from the base member l6, when the pin is moved thereunder, and these catches are so spaced from one another longitudinally of the guides I4 that one serves to hold the base member in focusing position on the mounting plate l2, while the other holds the base member in exposing position on the mounting plate.

I'he above described adapter back as a whole forms no part of the present invention, but is merely disclosed to show one specific application of our novel hinge assembly between the ground glass support and the ground glass cover thereon. It is such an application that the novel hinge assembly was designed for, and it clearly illustrates the advantages of such an assembly.

Referring now particularly to Figs. 26, which shows the hinge assembly for the ground glass cover, or the present invention, in detail, the

base member I8 is provided with an aperture 28 which is adapted to be brought over the exposure aperture in the mounting plate |2 for focusing purposes; and the base member I6 includes upstanding side, back, and front walls 29, 30, and 3| respectively which surround said aperture 28 and form a ground glass support. The top of the side walls 29, and approximately half of the top of the front and back walls 30 and 3| are cut down to provide a seat in which the ground glass I9 is seated, and said ground glass is firmly held in place by a metal frame 32 covering the edges of said ground glass and which frame is fastened to said side walls by screws 33. It will be readily appreciated that the top of the side, front, and back walls of the ground glass support are cut away as described to permit the top of the metal frame Hi to remain below, or be fiush with, the top of the walls so that the cover can close as hereinafter described.

Referring to Figs. 3, 5, and 6, it will be noticed that cutting half of the front and back walls away to form a ground glass seat in effect leaves two narrow rails, which will be designated by 34, extending the length of said walls. The rail on the back wall provides the stock into which the hinge pins for the cover are to be and although they are hardly wide enough for this purpose, their width is limited due to the fact that a space must be left between the ground glass support I! and the camera support l8 wide enough to receive the side wall of the camera body 2|, see Fig. 5. It was found that due to the limited amount of stock which the rails 34 provided, that if the hinge pins were screwed into tapped holes in the end of the rear rail 34, or had a drive fit with a smooth bore therein, as is generally done, that portion of the rail adjacent the mounted,

hinge pin hole would very ofter break away, thus spoiling the entire base member.

Our novel hinge assembly overcomes this difficulty by providing each end of the rear rail 34 with a hinge bore 35 extending longitudinally of the rail whereby the rail constitutes the hinge axis. Into each of these hinge pin bores 35 is slidably inserted a hinge pin 31, the diameter of which is such that it can be slid into or out of the hinge pin bores easily and without inducing a pressure on the walls of the bore, which pressure would tend to rupture the walls of the bore and break away the rail. We have found that by inserting a hinge pin in the rail 34 in this manner that no breaking away of the rail is encountered.

Each hinge pin 31 is provided intermediate its ends with an enlarged collar 38 which engages the end of the rail 34, and which may serve to limit the extent to which the hinge pin 31 can be inserted into its bore 35 should the depth of the bore be greater than the length of the hinge pin from the collar to its end, as shown in Fig, 4.

The ground glass cover may be substantially U-shaped, having a top portion 39 covering saidground glass proper, and wings 40 for shielding the stray light from the sides of the ground glass when the cover is raised. Each of the wings 40 is provided with a hole 4| which is adapted to snap over the end of the hinge pin extending beyond the side walls 29 so as to rotatably hinge the cover to the ground glass support. The cover is preferably made of thin metal so that the wings 40 integral therewith will have a resiliency inherent in the metal itself, and can be sprung toward or away from each other. These Wings are purposely initially sprung so that they will normally incline a slight amount toward each other, and the distance between said two wings should be less than the distance between the outside ends of each of the hinge pins. In order to mount the cover 20 on the hinge pins 31 the wings 40 must be sprung outward to snap the holes 4| therein over the ends of said hinge pins, whereafter the wings will spring back to their normal positions and by engaging the outside of the collars 38 on each pin will serve through their normal resiliency to hold said pin,

as well as the cover itself, in assembled position.

Although we have shown a cover made of thin metal with the wings integral therewith to provide the desired resiliency for the wings, it is to be understood that other constructions, although not assimple, could be made to give this desired flexing action to the wings. Such a modified arrangement might include a cover having the wings hinged to the top portion and normally spring pressed toward one another by springs at the hinge exis of the wings and top portion. Therefore, it is pointed out that the invention is not limited to the use of a cover con,- structed .as disclosed, but any cover having the wings arranged so as to be capable of movement toward and away from one another, and normally moved toward one another, would suffice.

For cheapness of manufacture, the base member I6 is generally molded, and due to pattern making technique this necessitates that the outside surface of the side walls 29 taper outwardly from the top to the bottom thereof, see Fig. 2. In order to prevent the wings 40 from frictionally engaging these tapered side walls 23 when moved to a covering position, wherein the wings overlap the side wall, the width of each collar 38 on each hinge pin 31 is made equal, or substantially so, to the draft of the side wall taper. Thus. the collar in addition to its other enumerated functions, spaces the wings 40 away from the side walls so that in moving to an overlapping position relative thereto they will not engage said side walls at all or, if at all, only at the bottom of the taper. These collars, therefore, prevent undue frictional resistance between the cover and the side walls, and a consequent outward springing of the wings 40, and perhaps accidental disassembling, both of which would result if, when the cover was moved to its closed position, the wings were not spaced from said side walls to accommodate for said taper.

In order to provide a slight frictional control or resistance on the cover to prevent an uncontrolled flopping thereof, and to provide means for positively stopping the same in its raised position when moved there-toward, the following structure is provided. A spring finger 43 formed integral with the ground glass frame 32 is adapted to overhang one of the side walls 29 and extend outward therefrom and into frictional engagement with one of the wings 40. This spring finger has just enough resiliency to retard, not

hamper, movement of the cover when frictionally engaging the wings. The lower corner of the wing 40 engaged by said spring finger 43 is provided with an inturned lug 44 which engages said spring finger when the cover is fully raised and positively limits further hinging movement in this direction.

From the foregoing disclosure it will be a! preciated that our novel hinge assembly possesses several advantages over the prior art. First a hinge assembly is provided which is extremely simple and which is cheap from a manufacturing standpoint. This hinge assembly can be rapidly and easily assembled by an unskilled workman, because of the fact that all of the parts are held in their respective assembled positions due to the formation of the parts and the physical characteristics inherent in or built thereinto. The particular formation of the hinge pin provides three separate and distinct functions. First, the collar on the pin serves to limit the extent to which the pin can be slid into its hinge pin bore. Secondly, the collar in combination with the resilient characteristic of the wings insures the hinge pins being held in their assembled positions without benefit of an attaching means. And thirdly, the collar accounts for the taper of the side walls of the ground glass support and eliminates, or reduces, the frictional resistance which would ordinarily be encountered between the side walls and the wings of the cover, were said wings not spaced from said side walls. In addition, the disclosed hinge assembly can be satisfactorily used where a limited amount of stock is allowed for seating hinge pins, this being a result which could not be realized or accomplished by known hinge assemblies where it is necessary to attach the hinge pins to one {of the hinge members by a screw threaded engagement, a drive fit, or the like.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A hinge assembly comprising a base member provided with a viewing aperture and having side walls, one of which is provided with a hinge'pin bore, a cover for covering said aperture, and having a pair of spaced wings normally urged toward each other for overlapping the side wells of said base member, each of said wings provided with a hole, and a hinge connection including a hinge pin extending from each of said side walls, one of said hinge pins adapted to be slidably inserted into said bore, said hinge pins spaced apart along the hinge axis whereby their outer ends are adapted to be spaced apart a distance greater than the spacing of said wings, and a collar on the slidably inserted hinge pin, located to be engaged by a wing of said cover, when the holes therein are snapped over the ends of said hinge pins, and normally held thereby with said hinge pin in its hinge pin bore.

2. A hinge assembly comprising a base memoer provided with a viewing aperture and having side walls each provided with a hinge pin bore, a cover for covering said aperture, and including a pair of spaced wings normally urged toward each other for overlapping the side walls of said Jase member, each of said wings provided with a hole, and a hinge connection including a pair of hinge pins one of which is slidably inserted into each of said bores, and spaced apart along the hinge axis whereby their outer ends we adapted to be spaced apart a distance greater than the spacing of said wings, and a collar on each of said hinge pins, located to be engaged by a wing of said cover, when said holes therein are snapped over the ends of said hinge pins, and normally held thereby with said hinge pin in its hinge pin bore.

A hinge assembly comprising a molded base member provided with a viewing aperture, and having tapering side walls one of which is provided with a hinge pin bore, a cover for covering said aperture and having a pair of spaced wings normally urged toward each other for overlapping the side walls of said base member, each of said Wings provided with a hole, a hinge connection including a hinge pin extending from each or" said side walls, one of said hinge pins adapted to be slidably inserted into said bore, said hinge pins spaced apart along the hinge axis whereby their outer ends are adapted to be spaced apart a distance greater than the spacing of said wings, and a collar on each of said hinge pins, located to be engaged by a wing of said cover when the same is snapped over said pins to engage the holes therein, said collars being equal in width to the draft of the taper of said side walls, whereby the wings in overlapping said side walls do not engage said side walls so as to be sprung apart by such engagement.

4. A hinge assembly comprising a molded base member provided with a viewing aperture, and having tapering side walls each provided with a hinge pin bore, a cover made of resilient material for covering said aperture and including a pair of spaced wings normally urged toward each other from the vertical due to the resiliency of the material from which the cover is fabricated, and adapted to overlap the side walls of said base member, each of said wings provided with a hole, a hinge connection including a pair of hinge pins, one of which is slldably inserted into each of said bores, and spaced along the hinge axis whereby their outer ends are adapted to be spaced apart a. distance greater than the spacing of said wings, and a collar on each of said hinge pins, located to be engaged by a wing when the same is snapped over the end of said pin and the pin extends through said hole there- 'in, whereby each of said pins is held in said bores by the normal resiliency of said wings, said collar being equal in width to the draft of the taper of said side walls, whereby the wings in overlapping said side walls do not engage the same to be sprung apart.

5. In an apparatus of the type described a hinge assembly comprising a. molded ground glass support rectangular in shape provided with a viewing aperture, and having upstanding and tapering side walls, a rail extending across the top of two parallel side walls, the opposite ends of one rail each provided with a hinge pin bore, a ground glass located over said viewing aperture and between said rails, a metal cover for covering said ground glass, and including a pair of spaced wings normally urged toward each other from the vertical due to the resiliency of the metal for overlapping the side walls of said ground glass support, each of said wings provided with a hole, a hinge connection between said support and said cover including a pair of hinge pins, one of which is slidably inserted into each of said bores, and spaced apart along the hinge axis whereby their outer ends are adapted to be spaced apart a distance greater than the spacing of said wings, and a collar on each of said hinge pins located to be engaged by a wing when the same is snapped over the end of the pin and the pin extends through said hole therein, said collar being equal in width to the draft of the side wall taper, whereby the wings are spaced from said side walls so as not to engage the same when moved to an overlapping posi tion relative thereto.

6. In an apparatus of the type described a hinge assembly comprising a molded ground glass support rectangular in shape provided with a viewing aperture, and having upstanding and tapering side walls, a rail extending across the top of two parallel side walls, the opposite ends of one rail each provided with a hinge pin bore, a ground glass located over said viewing aperture and between said rails, a metal frame for holding said ground glass in place over said aperture, a U-shaped metal cover for covering said ground glass the wings of which are normally urged toward each other from the vertical due to the resiliency of the metal and adapted to overlap the side walls of said ground glass support, each of said wings provided with a hole,

a hinge connection between said support and said cover including a pair of hinge pins slidably inserted into said bores, and spaced apart along the hinge axis whereby their outer ends are adapted to be spaced apart a distance greater than the spacing of said wings, a collar on each of said hinge pins located to be engaged by a wing when the same is snapped over the end of the pin to engage the same in the hole in said wing, said collar being equal in width to the draft of the side wall taper whereby the wings are spaced from said side walls so as not to engage the same when moved to an overlapping position relative thereto, a resilient finger integral with said ground glass frame and extending beyond one tapering side wall to engage one of said wings for frictionally retarding a hinging movement of said cover, and a lug on the wing engaged by said resilient finger adapted to positively engage said spring finger when said cover is moved to its uncovering position for providing a positive stop.

HENRY O. DROTNING.

JOHN D. NEWELL. 

